Absence
by cataclysmically starry-minded
Summary: When his wife disappears, Ichigo finds his life turned inside out as he frantically tries to find her. Meanwhile, Ichimaru Gin has hatched a desperate plan. IchiRuki.
1. Chapter 1

Absence

Chapter One

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it.

* * *

Ichigo sometimes thought that his life would've been a lot less complicated if he had forbidden Rukia from doing dishes. In fact, if he had just kept her from the sink in the first place, he would still be Ichigo, the newlywed medical student. Now, he was Ichigo, medical student, clinic aide, Shinigami, husband, and impending father. And it was all Rukia's fault—or, rather, her inability to do dishes without getting herself completely wet. How she managed to soak through her shirt with only the water from the faucet, Ichigo would never know, but as long as she was standing there, clothes clinging wetly to her slight curves, the words "condom" or "birth control" would never cross Ichigo's mind.

Case in point: minutes prior to entering their apartment, Ichigo had been wholly preoccupied with his upcoming midterm exams, but as soon as he stepped over the threshold and saw Rukia in their tiny kitchen, scrubbing the bottom of a pan, everything but her faded from his mind. A dish towel was slung carelessly over the swell of her stomach, but it hadn't prevented her dress from getting completely drenched.

"I'm home," Ichigo called softly, and Rukia turned towards him, pan still in her hand, dripping onto the floor.

"You're late," she said, but there was no real annoyance in her voice. "I already ate; if you want dinner, it's on the table." He spared a glance to the plate—katsudon _again_—before bypassing the table and approaching the sink.

"I'll eat later," he said, resting his hand on the curve of Rukia's hip.

"Don't come crying to me when it's congealed," she said, a slight smile tugging at her lips. He smirked back at her and stooped down to kiss her, sweeping his fingers across her belly. He could taste the breaded pork on her lips and beneath it the slight tang that was Rukia: cherries and something warmer, sweeter. He pressed his tongue against hers, deepening the kiss, drawing her as close as he could, given that she had become decidedly concave. He was about to do something that would hopefully move them from the kitchen into the bedroom when the annoying chirp of Rukia's cell phone brought everything to a screeching halt. Sighing deeply, Ichigo moved his lips from hers and rested his cheek against her right shoulder.

"Don't get it," he said, half-serious, but Rukia swatted him playfully.

"It's a Hollow. Get off so I can answer it." Ichigo slowly pushed himself away from her, settling against the counter wearily. He watched Rukia waddle over to her phone, massaging his temple to try and stave off his headache when she began pressing buttons.

"Where is it?" he asked tiredly, using his badge to release his Shinigami form.

"About fifteen blocks away," she responded. "We should get going."

"We," Ichigo said tersely, "are not going anywhere. You think I'm letting you get anywhere _near_ a Hollow after what happened last time? I'll go and you'll stay here."

Rukia half-turned so she could look Ichigo in the eye. "Excuse me?" she said.

"Rukia, last time I let you go, you nearly got smashed into a wall. You're getting too big—you're not fast enough to dodge them anymore.Rukia's face was turning an alarming shade of red. Ichigo had a sudden urge to jump out the window and run away as fast as he could. "I mean," he said, desperately trying to backtrack, "it's dangerous, especially in your condition."

"My _condition_?" she said, her voice dangerously low. "I've been doing this a lot longer than you have. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I can't still deal with Hollows."

"It just makes you slower, unable to use your zanpaktou, or evade attacks. The only thing you can still do is your fire spell, and that doesn't always work." Rukia's hand was beginning to tremble with anger, but after the last time she'd come along with him to fight a Hollow, Ichigo was damned if he was letting her get within a twenty-kilometer radius of one. "You're not coming, even if I have to tie you to the sofa."

"I'd like to see you stop me," she hissed, bluffing, as both knew full well that Ichigo was taller, stronger, and more than able to subdue her. Instantly, Ichigo was by her side, using his flash-stepping technique to surprise her. He took the phone from her hand and pushed her gently towards the couch.

"Stop being stubborn," he said. "Just…stay here. I'll be back." She scowled deeply at him, a foreshadowing that he would most likely be banned from their bedroom for at least a week. "Don't follow me," he said, leaving the apartment before she could say something in return.

* * *

Two hours had passed before Ichigo was climbing the stairs to get home. The Hollow hadn't been a very versatile foe, but it was quick and cunning; Ichigo had had to chase it around the park for at least a half an hour before he got close enough to get rid of it. Cursing life in general and spider-like Hollows in particular, Ichigo approached the door to his apartment, hoping that Rukia hadn't been angry enough to lock him out—Shinigami clothes didn't have any pockets for house keys. The door knob turned easily in his hand, and he pushed the door open, bracing himself for Rukia's inevitable retribution. He was readying himself for a low, scathing comment, or maybe even a thrown object if she was feeling particularly hormonal and when nothing came, he couldn't help but be slightly surprised. A soft rustling noise alerted him to where she was—she had fallen asleep in the armchair, her arms crossed in a way that made Ichigo certain that she had nodded off when she was still angry. Even though he knew he was going to catch hell from her in the morning, Ichigo couldn't stop a small smile from crossing his face.

Walking into the kitchen, Ichigo entered his body, which was still slumped on the floor, stuck Rukia's phone into his pants pocket and snagged a piece of cold pork from the plate that was still on the table. Chewing, he walked over to Rukia. "Idiot," he said affectionately, slipping her shoes off. He slid one of his hands under her knees and maneuvered his other arm behind her back. She made no indication of waking up, even when he hoisted her up and carried her into the bedroom. Instead, she curled one of her hands into his shirt and buried her face in his left shoulder. He set her down on the bed and uncurled her fist from his sleeve before slowly removing her dress so he could get her in her pajamas.

"You'd better appreciate this tomorrow morning," he told her quietly. He moved her sleep-pliant body into a lying position and pulled the blankets around her. As much as he wanted nothing more than to climb into bed next to her, he had to catch up on his behavioral medicine material if he had any chance of keeping up in lecture tomorrow. Two lectures, one lab, and two hours helping his dad at the clinic—Ichigo wanted to hit his head against the wall in frustration thinking about how much he had to do. If his father wasn't footing the rent ("A wedding present," he had said. "Just until you finish school"), Ichigo didn't know how he and Rukia would be surviving financially, besides living at home, which was obviously not an option. Ichigo's dad paid him modestly for doing basic jobs and Rukia had talked Urahara into employing her at his shop—between food and Rukia's obsession with stuffed rabbits for the nursery, their money intake was pitifully small. Pulling his textbook out of his backpack, Ichigo sighed deeply and got to work, wishing that he had chosen an easier profession to pursue.

Rukia woke on the earlier side of five in the morning with a desperate need to pee. It took her a few seconds to realize why she felt disoriented—when, exactly, had she ended up in bed? The last thing she remembered was falling into the armchair, seething about Ichigo's complete lack of confidence in her ability to get rid of a Hollow. She _had_ gotten into a little trouble the last time she had actually made it to the site of a Hollow attack before Ichigo was able to destroy it (the extra twenty-three pounds of baby made her walking speed somewhere between turtle and sloth), but it had ended well enough, hadn't it? She was still alive, and there had been no ill effects. She was still angry at Ichigo's slight against her, and even though he had apparently brought her from the chair and into bed, she was nowhere near forgiving him. She narrowed her eyes at his sleeping form, right next to her even though he must've known that she was still entirely pissed off. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she walked to the bathroom, making as much unnecessary noise as possible. It was an indication of how exhausted her husband was that nothing seemed to rouse him; normally, he was a fairly light sleeper.

She squeezed out of their tiny bathroom, flicking her wet hands in the direction of Ichigo. Debating getting back into bed and pushing at Ichigo's back until he fell off the side, she was, she jumped when a faint noise permeated the room. It was coming from the direction of the laundry basket that was next to a nightstand, and it took Rukia a second or two to realize that her cell phone, the one that Ichigo had so unceremoniously pilfered last night, was heralding another Hollow attack. She had to struggle through four different pockets before she found it, and still Ichigo had not moved from his position, which almost made Rukia want to check that he was still alive. Instead, she accessed the menu of her phone and deduced that the Hollow wasn't far—maybe a fourth of a kilometer, at that. After making sure that Ichigo was, in fact, breathing, Rukia was about to poke him between the eyes when an idea came over her.

She gave Ichigo one last look before backing away and locating the dress that she had worn the day prior. Pulling her pajamas off, she awkwardly put the dress on, leaving her discarded clothes in a pile on the floor—it was too much of an effort to bend over and pick them up. If, she reasoned, if she could prove to Ichigo that she could still fight Hollows effectively, he'd hopefully stop being so damn overprotective. Fighting Hollows and the like had been such a large part of her (after)life for such a long time that forgoing it now just because she was pregnant was laughable; the fact that her own husband was trying to keep her from such an integral part of her existence hurt more than she wished to admit. Slipping on her shoes, Rukia grabbed her keys from the hook by the door and left. She was down the stairs before her mind had really caught up with her. Loath as she was to admit, Ichigo had been right about one thing—her pregnancy prevented her from leaving her gigai, effectively wielding her zanpaktou, or moving quickly out of the way.

A small knot of worry lodged itself in the base of Rukia's stomach, and no amount of rational reasoning would dispel it. Even though she still had her magic attacks (and they _had _served her well in plenty of battles before) somehow she felt as though she was going into battle wholly unprepared. Even though she had her phone, which could double as a real phone as well as a Hollow detection device, and Ichigo could make the trip in two minutes flat, she had a feeling that maybe leaving without him wasn't such a great plan. However, she was too stubborn to turn back now and simply pressed on.

* * *

The Hollow wasn't hard to find at all; screeching, it had cornered the spirit of a teenage boy. It was bird-like with shadowy wings and an elongated mask, but it didn't seem to be particularly intelligent or powerful, judging from it's fragmented attempts at speech, most of which was comprised of the words "I'm going to eat you." Rukia didn't try to approach it but instead positioned herself out of the way, making sure that the spirit wasn't in range of her spell. She positioned her hand making sure that the Hollow, who was currently hovering above the ghost, poised to attack, was semi-stationary before incanting, "Destructive Art Thirty-Three: Blue Fire, Crash Down!" The blue fire was on course, but at the last moment, the hollow swooped down for the kill, avoiding the spell by sheer luck on its part. It had done one good thing, at least—the Hollow had been sufficiently distracted, enough so that it abandoned its spirit meal for something a little more Rukia-flavored. Rukia wheeled her hand around and invoked the spell again. This time it hit a little closer to home and loped off part of the Hollow's wing.

"What's this?" the Hollow hissed. "You think that that will stop me, little one? You'll do nicely to fill my empty stomach." It dived down close to her, snapping its jaws playfully. The sudden move made Rukia fall hard into a sitting position.

"Sorry," she said as it advanced, "but I'm not about to let myself get eaten by such a pathetic Hollow. Destructive Art Thirty-One: Red Flame Cannon!" The Hollow squawked in surprise but wasn't quite limber enough to avoid the blast of magic that hit him in the middle of his face. Rukia allowed herself a victorious smile as she watched the Hollow's body dissolve. _Take that, Ichigo!_ she thought, and pulled herself up with the help of a shrub and two minutes' worth of struggling. As soon as she had righted herself, a slow noise permeated the stillness of the street. At first she thought it was the ghost she had saved, but a quick look around destroyed that idea, as it seemed as though he had disappeared as soon as the Hollow had turned towards Rukia.

"Who's there?" she said loudly. "Who's clapping?"

Someone stepped out of a nearby alley, his slow, mocking applause echoing. "Very nice, Rukia-chan. I was afraid that I was going to need to step in and save you."

Rukia's stomach twisted in a way that threatened to make her spill her half-digested dinner on the sidewalk. "Gin," she said.

"I really can't tell you how surprised I was when you appeared, Rukia-chan," he said, smiling widely. "Really, I was quite sure that your ginger-haired husband was going to dash in here, sword a flying. I can't tell you how pleased I am that you've come alone."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, slowly backing away from him, even though she knew she had no chance of outrunning him. "Don't come near me!" she snapped as he began to match her, step for step.

"Certainly you've noticed that there's been an abundance of Hollows lately?" Gin questioned lightly. "You didn't honestly think they were coincidence?"

"You mean that you—"

"Oh, yes, Rukia-chan. I've been sending Hollows down in an attempt to wear out that husband of yours."

"So you can kill him?" Rukia was seething, a bubble of white hot rage filling her chest.

"Oh, no, no, no, you misunderstand me, Rukia-chan. I've been trying to tire him out in order to get to _you_."

"Me? But why—"

Gin smiled at her and continued, almost conversationally. "You see, I have a need for you, and I knew that you'd be almost impossible to get at as long as that annoying strawberry of yours was in the way. He's gotten strong in the past seven years, hasn't he?"

"So you," Rukia said slowly, "you've come out of hiding for the first time in seven years to do what exactly? Spy on me? On us?"

Gin smiled wider, baring his teeth. "No, not exactly. I've come to do this." He suddenly came at her, fast as a flash of fire, and grabbed her arm. A column of purple light surrounded them, and Rukia valiantly struggled to get away as she realized he was taking her to Hueco Mundo. She felt the ground leave her feet and watched as a shoe fell back to the cement with a hollow slap.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, but Gin merely laughed and tightened his grip. A hole in the sky opened like a gaping, purple maw and terror wrapped around Rukia's spine. In a split second she was leaving Karakura Town and entering into a dark so oppressive that she had to close her eyes against it. When she opened them again, she was back on solid ground (if it could be called ground at all—it was completely insubstantial), surrounded by a maroon bubble.

"Normally," Gin was saying, "I would leave you here to deal with the Hollows alone—there are quite a lot of them, you see. However, I have come to have use of you."

"I'm not helping you," she hissed, finally wrenching her hand out of his grasp. "I don't care what you do to me."

"What about this," Gin questioned, running a hand on the swell of her stomach in a way that brought goose bumps to Rukia's forearms. "Would you mind very much if I hurt this parasite you're carrying? I seem to remember that mothers are supposed to have instinct about these things. Not allowing them to be hurt, and such?"

Bile rose in Rukia's throat. "Bastard," she spat. "You bastard."

"Now, now, don't blame me because you've gone and gotten yourself into a predicament. You certainly made things easier for me, coming after that Hollow alone. I was planning on having to quickly double-back and steal you from your bed."

"_Why_, though? I don't understand what use I could have for you. What—are you going to try and send me to the Soul Society to try and talk Byakuya-nii-sama out of coming after you? I don't know if you've ever met my brother, but—"

"Oh, nothing so complex, Rukia-chan. I'm in need of procuring something from Urahara's shop, and from what I've come to understand, you work there now, don't you?"

Rukia spluttered. "You've kidnapped me so I can _steal _something for you?"

Gin looked bored, and he twirled a strand of Rukia's hair between his fingers in an almost playful way. Rukia felt sick. "In all respects, yes. A gigai. I would like you to find me a gigai, and given that Urahara is most well-known for inventing one that is impossible to track, you understand why it must be from him."

"Why _did_ you bring me here, then?"

"Well, of course I knew that you weren't going to just steal the gigai with no convincing beforehand. So how's about this? You stay here for an indefinite amount of time and we'll see how you feel after that."

Rukia felt as though her stomach had somehow fallen out of her body. "What?"

"This room can be…quite persuasive if you give it time."

"You wouldn't honestly leave me here?" she said, concealing the shake in her voice with great effort.

"Of course I would. It's fairly safe, as long as the Hollows don't breach the outer walls. Hmmm, I do hope I've fortified them enough. And there is that added bonus that no one will be able to sense that you're here as long as you stay within these walls. In any rate, I think a couple of months here will do nicely in convincing you to help me. Do enjoy yourself."

"You're crazy," Rukia gasped. "No, wait—" She reached out her hand in a desperate attempt to grasp Gin's sleeve but it was too late. He disappeared from the darkness with a flash of white light, leaving Rukia alone in a room, the walls of which were transparent enough to allow Rukia to see the hulking, dark shapes of the Hollows beyond.

END CHAPTER ONE

A/n: This fic will be continued in three more chapters, which are mostly written. Reviews make me happy ;D.

(Dedicated to my friend, P-sama, who's been very patient with me.)


	2. Chapter 2

Absence: Chapter Two

Disclaimer: I don't own Bleach.

A/N: Thank you to all the reviewers and people who favorite my fic! Virtual cookies to you all ;D

* * *

Ichigo woke up, startled, at precisely half past seven when his alarm clock went off with an annoying buzz. Groping around for the snooze button, he sat up yawning, noting two important things: he was still on the bed and his wife wasn't. Maybe to a normal person in an ordinary marriage, these two points of contention would be perfectly fine, but they had Ichigo confused. After the state he'd left Rukia in the night before, he had been fully prepared to wake up after being shoved into the bedside table. Secondly, pregnancy had turned Rukia into one of the latest sleepers Ichigo had ever met. She had been known to spend over fourteen hours in bed at a time, and Ichigo often came home to find her asleep on the couch.

Ichigo got up, slightly perturbed but in no way worried, and checked the one room Rukia would venture out of bed for so early in the morning—the bathroom—but the door was three-fourths open and the light was off. Ichigo went on to search the rest of their apartment, from the smallish nursery (well, nursery-in-making) to the kitchenette, growing slightly puzzled as he found no sign of his errant wife. He tried calling her name, even though that was a bad idea, considering that she was likely still incredibly angry, but no forthcoming sarcastic remark reached his ears. After he had been through every room, he ended up at the front door and noted that her shoes were missing. He made a little noise through his mouth at that discovery—where on earth would Rukia go to before eight in the morning?—before he saw something glinting in the weak sunlight shuttering through one of the windows. He picked it up and turned it over in his fingers. It seemed to be a very small rabbit charm, similar to the one that usually hung from Rukia's cell phone.

Something clicked in Ichigo's mind and he allowed himself a second of dumbfounded surprise before he charged across the room, looking for his backpack. He had obtained a Hollow-detecting phone around the same time that it became unfeasible for Rukia to continue following him everywhere. Usually, he only needed it during class, where he would put it in silent mode and prop it on his desk. He pulled the phone out and flipped it open, searching through for the option that would allow him to look at the last fifteen Hollow alerts that the phone had received. It was right on top of the list—a Hollow at 5:11 in the morning, in his territory.

"You idiot," he said to himself as his stomach knotted with anxiety. "You just had to tell her she couldn't fight one on her own." He was out of the apartment in two minutes, barely giving himself enough time to change out of his pajamas. Taking the stairs three at a time, he flew past Mrs. 301, causing her to drop her eggs.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" she yelled at his back, but he was already gone, taking the same route that Rukia had likely taken earlier that morning when she decided to fight a Hollow alone in a vain attempt to prove him wrong. Ichigo nearly ran into no less than seven people on his way to the intersection that his phone said the Hollow had appeared, and when he arrived there, he found no indication that anything spiritual had happened there at all. He turned in a circle, deaf to all the grumblings he was causing in his fellow pedestrians, but he found nothing. No hollow, no unexplained damage, nothing that would tell him what exactly had happened in the two hours it had been since Rukia had left their apartment. Kicking a bush in anger, he tried to gather his thoughts to come up with a cohesive plan, the din of the children playing behind him mixing into one, all-encompassing mass of noise until a clear voice rang through the air.

"Mommy! Look what I found!" a little girl was crying, and Ichigo turned around and looked at her. She was maybe four and was in the process of showing her mother a shoe.

"Yuki, put that down," her mother scolded as Ichigo walked closer to them. "You don't know where it's been."

"Okay, Mommy." The girl dropped the shoe with barely a second glance and dashed over to the sandbox. Ichigo stooped and picked it up, running his index finger along the sole. He recognized it, of course, as being one of the pair of shoes that was currently missing from his apartment—the right shoe that Rukia had likely slipped on when she left that morning. He looked around for another sign that she'd been there—a scrap of her dress or maybe the left shoe—but he couldn't find anything, not even after he'd asked the little girl where she'd found it. After a fruitless search that took the better part of a half an hour, Ichigo gave up and decided to look somewhere else in the hope that Rukia had defeated the Hollow and then gone to visit someone rather than go home. As occupied as his mind was, the trip back to his father's clinic, which usually took anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes, seemed like it took seconds. He entered without a knock and deftly avoided his father's aerial attack.

"Very good, Ichigo," his father said, his voice muffled by the pieces of plywood that had fallen on his head when he'd sailed into the wall. "You're still not skilled enough to beat me, but you're getting there!" He struggled out of the hole in the wall and then brushed his shirt off. "But what are you doing here? You weren't supposed to come in until this afternoon, I thought?"

"Rukia," Ichigo said. "Have you seen her?"

"No, she hasn't been by." Isshin's eyes narrowed. "You haven't been making her angry, have you? How do expect my grandchild to enter this world unharmed if you keep making Rukia mad?"

"Yuzu," Ichigo muttered, taking off down the hall.

"Ichigo!" his father yelled after him. "You upset Rukia one more time, and I'll have to do something about it!"

Ichigo shuffled quickly through the hallway to get to the kitchen, his father ranting behind him. As soon he passed through the doorway, he stopped, causing Isshin to run into his back.

"Yuzu," Ichigo said, "have you seen Rukia?"

"No-o," Yuzu said, pulling her chopsticks out of her mouth. "Not since last week."

"God, have you made her angry _again_?" Karin asked, her eyes not leaving her manga. Ichigo's stomach twisted itself into a more complicated knot.

"If you see her, tell her to call me!" he said over his shoulder, running out of the house in such a way that Isshin ended up sprawled over a table. In an attempt to find her, Ichigo tried every place he could think of, but to no avail.

(She's not supposed to come into work until tomorrow," Uryuu said quietly.)

With every step he took, Ichigo could feel his panic growing, churning, clawing up his throat until he could scream because of it.

("A Hollow? I can't believe that she would let herself be defeated so easily. Should I have Abarai-san come by, Kurosaki-san? I could send Yoruichi for him." Urahara's brow furrowed. "I'm sure she's okay.")

The sun was setting, and Ichigo stared at it, his heart pounding erratically. He'd spent the entire day running around town, skipping his classes _and_ work with his father, to try and find her.

("Lose your wife, Kurosaki?" Ishida scoffed. "Maybe you should keep better track of her.")

He took the apartment steps wearily, hoping that she'd come home. Looking through his pockets and finding that he was missing his keys, Ichigo groaned and pounded his fist against the wood of the door. "What else could go wrong today?" he said to himself, trying the doorknob just to be sure. It twisted easily in his hand.

("Rukia's missing?" Orihime shrieked, grasping Ichigo's forearms. "Oh, but I'm sure it's fine! She'll be okay! I'll help you look for her!")

"Rukia!" Ichigo called loudly. "Rukia, are you here?" The apartment was empty and dark, and Ichigo ran through every room before he realized she wasn't home and came to the conclusion that he'd simply forgotten to lock the door before leaving.

("No," Chad said blankly. "Haven't seen her.")

Ichigo went out onto the small balcony, his hands trembling slightly. "RUKIA!" he screamed, his voice lost in the wind.

* * *

The oppressiveness of Hueco Mundo made it hard for Rukia to do anything but sleep. And dream.

_The sky was pale blue, with a few wisps of clouds in the distance, Rukia noted through the window. She fiddled with the sash on her dress, earning a slight slap from Yuzu._

_"Stop fussing," she chided lightly. _

_"It's just—" Rukia started, the words dying on her lips. She wanted to put into words the anxious happiness she was feeling but could find nothing suitable to describe it. Settling for letting her shoe slip off her foot, she suppressed a wince when Yuzu pulled a little too hard on her hair._

_"I'm so glad you let me do a Western-style wedding," Yuzu gushed as she twisted a small white flower into the hair behind Rukia's ear. "You look so pretty in that dress—Ichigo'll probably fall over when he sees you." Rukia looked down at herself, and sighed quietly; she didn't think she looked any different than usual. Yuzu had dressed her in an odd, frilly, white dress embroidered with tiny clear beads. Twisting her ring around her finger (an engagement ring, they'd called it) and resisted the urge to play with the ruffles on her skirt._

_"All done," Yuzu said cheerfully. "Here, look!" Rukia took the handheld mirror from Yuzu and examined her reflection. Yuzu had attached some gauzy material to her head, trailing behind the row of flowers that were now delicately attached to her scalp. Rukia's hair seemed more…flippy than usual, which she wasn't sure she entirely cared for, but ah, well. _

_"Good?" Yuzu said._

_"Yes," Rukia said, "it's fine."_

_"It's almost time," Yuzu said._

_Karin snorted behind them. "Dad's having a fit as it is. The sooner this is over, the better."_

_"Karin! Don't say that! It's a _wedding_. Our brother's wedding! You should be excited."_

_"I am excited," Karin said. "Excited for it to be over."_

_"_Karin!"

_"Can we go out now?" Rukia interrupted, feeling slightly queasy from the nerves. Yuzu checked the wall clock and then shrugged. _

_"It's a little early, but I bet Ichigo will be relieved. I don't think he's happy in that suit I made him wear." Rukia wanted to laugh at the elaborate, fancy event that was a modern _

_wedding, but she thought that opening her mouth would be a bad thing at this point. Yuzu took her hand and pulled her to the back door, outside of which a tent had been erected and then filled copiously with flowers. She couldn't see Ichigo from her current position, and that did nothing to soothe her anticipation._

_"I'll let them know we're ready," Yuzu chirped. "Then I'm first, just like we practiced last night. Are you sure that you don't want your brother to walk you down the aisle."_

_"No," Rukia said firmly. If she let Byakuya-nii-sama any closer to Ichigo than the audience, she wasn't sure he'd be able to resist the temptation to draw his zanpaktou. Yuzu flitted out of the back door and was back too soon for Rukia's liking._

_"Okay," she said, smiling. "Me first, then Karin, and then you, when the music starts. You ready?"_

_"Yes," Rukia said quietly. She watched as Yuzu left, then Karin, her heart pounding in her throat. As the quiet strain of the violin signaled her entrance, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and then stepped outside, praying that she didn't trip on her dress. The sun was warm on her head and everyone was staring at her, but she didn't notice anything besides Ichigo. As soon as she stepped into his line of vision, his brown eyes, soft and warm, met hers, and she knew nothing else. Vaguely, she remembered saying vows, hearing the Western priest speak about love and duty, and then Ichigo had lifted the veil from her face and was kissing her sweetly._

* * *

Ichigo found that it was easier not to think of her when he kept his mind busy. He studied, he never let his mind wander in class, he kept his full attention on every patient his father delegated to him, and he read while he ate. During his day, he kept all thoughts of her firmly locked away in his mind as he completed each new task with a numb indifference. Nights were the worst. While he waited for sleep, nothing would keep her from his mind. Memories of her eyes, her smile, the way she spoke to him—they would multiply until he was curled into a ball, eyes screwed shut against it all. He hadn't cried for her, and he didn't think he would. This pain was too deep for tears, so he gathered his sorrow until it festered, tearing a ragged hole in his chest.

After three days, he had lost all hope that she was alive. There was still no trace of her, and Yoruichi had returned from the Soul Society with no news. Rukia (he tried not to use her name, because whenever he heard it or even thought it, the hole in his chest would rip a little wider) had not been seen by Orihime, Chad, Ishida, Urahara, or anyone in the Soul Society since the night before her disappearance. When Yoruichi returned with the news, she looked at Ichigo with sad eyes.

"When souls are eaten by Hollows," Yoruichi said slowly, "they return as new Hollows. But don't give up hope. Rukia's strong. I'm sure she's somewhere."

"If she's still alive," Ichigo replied deadly, "why hasn't she come home yet?" The thought that he might inadvertently kill a Hollow that had once been his wife made Ichigo sick to his stomach. When he thought of Rukia as a Hollow, he thought of his mother, lying on the embankment.

"We haven't found a body yet," Yoruichi remonstrated Ichigo. "We have no proof that a Hollow did _anything_ with her. And there's nothing that suggests she's been taken to Hueco Mundo, right?"

"No," Ichigo said quietly, quashing the small feeling of hope that had sprung in his stomach before he began to believe that things were okay when, in reality, they weren't.

"I'm going to go back and see if I can't get some of the captains to return and help look for her," Yoruichi said, walking out the door. "You and Renji can start without us." Ichigo endured a full five hours of combing the city with Renji, who spent most of the time in an apoplectic rage, ranting at Ichigo, before Yoruichi returned. With her were Byakuya, Hitsugaya, and Soi Fong.

"I should have known not to trust her with you," Byakuya said lowly. He drew his zanpaktou, fixing Ichigo with a black glare. "Your failure has cost me my little sister."

Hitsugaya stepped in between Ichigo and Byakuya. "You're not helping the situation, Kuchiki-taicho."

Ignoring the interference, Byakuya's eyes never left Ichigo's face. "If we cannot find her, I will make sure to make you pay for your inadequacy."

The search continued for several fruitless hours until defeat was conceded. Only through the combined efforts of Soi Fong, Hitsugaya, Yoruichi, and Urahara was Ichigo able to escape being chopped into millions of pieces by Byakuya's zanpaktou. Even now, he was unsure that it would've been such a bad way to go.

Time passed slowly as Ichigo's life continued as always. There were still exams to be taken and patients to be seen at his father's clinic. His phone still rang, albeit less frequently, with Hollow alerts, and he still fought them. Whenever a new one surfaced, he would scrutinize it, searching for any hints of his wife. He never found any.

"—and you're just _sitting_ here, looking at these stupid books." Ichigo looked up slowly at Renji, who was pacing the kitchen, his face red. These days, Renji had become one of Ichigo's most frequent visitors and spent every minute telling Ichigo how he'd failed.

Renji turned suddenly and fixed Ichigo with a stony gaze. "Have you heard anything I've said?"

_No_, Ichigo thought, but he averted his eyes with a sigh and responded, "How couldn't I? You've been talking for a half hour straight."

This response was apparently too flippant for Renji's nerves to handle. Visibly trembling with anger, Renji slammed his fist against the wall. "You don't care what happened to her, do you?" he snarled. "It's been over a week, and I haven't seen you get angry or upset or _anything_. You didn't deserve her. She died because you were too stupid to keep her safe."

Renji's words twisted their way into Ichigo's stomach like knives. Shoving himself away from the table, Ichigo barely heard the floor clatter to the ground before he crossed the apartment with startling speed, given he was still in his corporeal body. His fist slammed into Renji's face hard enough that he heard the sickening crunch of cartilage beneath his fingers. Renji, who had clearly not expected to be punched, let out a strangled yell of pain.

"Don't you ever," Ichigo said through clenched teeth, "don't you _ever_ say anything like that again. You have _no idea_ how I feel."

"You asshole," Renji swore thickly, trying to staunch the blood flow from his mouth.

Ichigo slammed him against the wall. "I can't deal with you right now," he said. "Get out." He let go of Renji's shoulders and took three steps backwards, suppressing the urge to launch at Renji.

"I won't forget this," Renji said, dripping blood on the floor as he left, but his threat didn't register with Ichigo.

"Just go."

* * *

_The rain was pattering softly on the window, and Rukia was sitting at the table stirring a small bowl full of onion, teriyaki chicken, and something called maple syrup that she'd found in the American section of the grocery store. Taking a bite, she made a little noise of delight at the taste when the front door opened._

_"I'm home," Ichigo greeted._

_Rukia tried to say something along the lines of "finally" but there was too much food in her mouth for it to come out intelligibly._

_He approached the table and looked into her bowl. "What are you eating?" he asked, wrinkling his nose. He picked up the bottle of syrup, looked at it, and then looked at her food again. "Did you put _this_ on your chicken?"_

_Rukia swallowed. "Yes," she said, narrowing her eyes. "What's so wrong about that?"_

_"This," Ichigo stressed, "is maple syrup. It's pure sugar."_

_"I don't care what it is," Rukia said stubbornly. "It's good."_

_"I can't believe you put it on chicken. That's disgusting."_

_"Then don't eat it."_

_"Did you eat half of this bottle today?" Ichigo asked, looking through the clear plastic to gauge how much was left._

_"Inoue came over for lunch," Rukia said defensively. "She brought something for me to try."_

_"Let me get this straight," Ichigo said. "Inoue came over with food and you ate it? You actually put this on it, ate it, and enjoyed it?"_

_Rukia scowled. "It was _good_. I don't know why I never liked her cooking before." Ichigo stared at her dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before he reached into a plastic bag that he'd set down on the table. For some reason, he turned bright red as he pushed a small box towards her._

_"Maybe you should take this," he said slowly._

_"Mm? What is it?" Rukia picked it up and felt herself flush. "A _pregnancy_ test? But I'm not—what makes you think…?"_

_"You're eating things like that and liking it," Ichigo said. "You've been vomiting in the morning—"_

_"It's just this stupid gigai," Rukia interrupted. "You know how easily it gets sick."_

_"And your, um," Ichigo's eyes strayed to her chest. "They've gotten bigger."_

_"They have not, you pervert," Rukia said, crossing her arms, suddenly self-conscious._

_"Look, it doesn't hurt to just take it," Ichigo said._

_"How does it work?" Rukia asked as she pulled a thin plastic stick out of the box. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably in his chair and Rukia unfolded the piece of paper that came with the test, slowly reading the instructions. "You want me to pee on this?" she said slowly. "Really? I pee on this stick and it's supposed to tell if I'm pregnant or not?" Rukia squirmed with embarrassment. "What kind of idiotic test is this? Do they even work?"_

_"Yes, they do," Ichigo said testily. _

_"This is stupid," Rukia said. "I'm not pregnant." Nevertheless, she walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. It took a little maneuvering on her part, but two minutes later she came out, holding the stick as far away from her body as possible. "How long does it take?" she asked.  
"A couple of minutes." She gave it to him, and he set it down on the table._

_"We _eat_ here," she said but made no motion to move it. Ichigo pulled out his phone and began to play with it; Rukia used her chopsticks to mash her food into an unintelligible mess._

_"It's ready," Ichigo said, a minute or two later, and Rukia looked up. He picked it up, looked at it for a second, and then handed it to her. It took Rukia much longer than Ichigo to fully comprehend the digital screen. She stared at the little "pregnant" for so long that when she closed her eyes, she could almost see it engraved on her eyelids. She pushed away from the table and walked over to stand by the sink. Ichigo was massaging his temples._

_Rukia didn't know what to say or how to externalize her thoughts, so she ended up saying nothing at all. She watched the people scurry around under the umbrellas, placing a hand on her stomach. A _baby_. The possibility had never even entered her head; the thought that she was going to become a mother was so overwhelming, she almost felt as though she was drowning._

_Ichigo came up behind her, wrapping his arms lightly around her waist. "It'll be okay," he said._

_"Of course it will. Idiot," she scoffed, leaning into his chest._

END CHAPTER


	3. Chapter 3

Absence: Chapter Three

Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own it.

Warnings for this chapter: There is an explicit dub-con dream sequence in this chapter that is meant for mature readers 18 years or older.

* * *

"You should eat, Kurosaki-kun," Orihime said. "You're getting too thin. Look, I cooked you something!"

Ichigo took one look at the unappetizing meal that Orihime was trying to pass off as food and turned back to his notebook. "I'm not hungry. And I'm not a kid either. You don't have to come over here and look after me."

"Oh," Orihime said softly. "I didn't mean to…" Ichigo looked up and saw how her eyes had become shiny and wet and sighed heavily.

"Look, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Oh, no, Kurosaki-san," Orihime said, the note of false cheerfulness entering her voice again. "Of course, you've been going through a hard time, what with Rukia…" She trailed off, a hand clapped over her mouth. Ichigo clenched his fist and closed his eyes for five seconds, just enough time to compose himself. He wondered how long it would be before hearing her name wouldn't cause his heart to contract painfully. He went back to ignoring Orihime, outlining the chapter for next week's lecture.

"Ichigo, you bastard!" Kon appeared on the table, kicking Ichigo's book away from him. "How dare you make Orihime cry?!" Ichigo made a noise of annoyance and punched Kon into the wall.

"What did you bring him for, anyway?" he asked Orihime irritably.

"He came to my house last night," she said. "I think he must have followed me here." Ichigo gave her an _oh, really_ look and got up to get his phone, which had chosen that moment to go off with a chirp.

"Hollow," he said.

"I'll come and help!" Orihime said enthusiastically.

"No, it's okay, really," Ichigo said, trying very hard to think of a way to make her go home willingly.

"I want to," she said, her tone allowing for no argument. Kon, who had extracted himself from the wall while muttering about red-headed assholes and girls who liked to dress him up in frilly costumes, launched himself into Orihime's chest.

"I'm coming!" he squealed. "It's been boring watching stupid Ichigo read."

Ichigo ejected himself from his body and stepped over to the door. "Keep up," he said. Orihime kept pace with him as he ran swiftly down the hall and into the stairwell, Kon holding onto her shirt.

"I know it's been hard for you," she said as they dashed down the sidewalk.

"Inoue," Ichigo started, a tension headache building up behind his eyes.

"But you have to give it time. Things will get better."

"_Inoue_."

"I mean, Rukia wouldn't want you to stop taking care of yourself."

"_INOUE_." Orihime turned and looked at him, eyes wide, and nearly tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. "Could you _please _stop _talking_ about this?"

"But Kurosaki-kun!"

"_Please_." They were coming into sight of the Hollow, which was stalking the spirit of an old woman.

"You look delicious," the Hollow hissed as the spirit let out a shriek.

"You know," Kon commented, "I'm pretty sure that Hollow isn't Rukia. It's not sexy enough."

Ichigo could've screamed with frustration.

* * *

_It was dark. That was the only thing Rukia could determine. She _thought_ she was in her apartment, but she couldn't tell. There was no source of light, no indication that there was anything in the room except for her. An involuntary shiver raced down her spine and she clutched her arms around her chest. Vaguely, she noticed that she must be in a dream, because her stomach was flat, but that did nothing to soothe the terror clawing up her throat. A low chuckle sounded through the room and she whipped around to face the source. _

_At first she thought it was Ichigo—her Ichigo—until he stepped closer and she saw the mask covering half of his face. His Hollow was smiling as manically as ever, his Shinigami clothing whipping around his legs in a nonexistent wind. "Oh, this is going to be fun," he said, licking his lips lewdly. "He thinks about you all the time. I've wanted to try you out for myself. Little whore." If possible, he smiled wider._

_"Get away," Rukia said, mentally cursing herself when her voice quivered._

_The Hollow stalked closer, and Rukia stumbled over herself trying to back away from him. She fell hard on the floor, and in an instant, he was over her, straddling her thighs. He pushed her so her back was against the floor. "I've been waiting for this for a long time," it hissed. Rukia shuddered and swung her fist, hoping to catch him in the face. He deftly caught her wrist and encircled it with his fingers, restraining it above her head. She tried to use her other hand to dislodge his grip but merely managed to get it trapped too. _

_"Get _off_," she snapped, twisting under him._

_"I plan to," the Hollow said, smirking at the double entendre. He leaned down and licked a stripe along Rukia's chin. She shuddered, both in disgust and…arousal? Rukia's stomach rebelled at the fact that she could ever find Ichigo's Hollow attractive, and she began struggling harder._

_"Oh, keep that up," the Hollow purred. "I like it when my bitch has a little fight in her."_

_"I am not your bitch," Rukia ground out. The Hollow growled, biting her neck, and Rukia had to stifle a gasp at the vibration of his chest._

_"You are," he assured her, and used his free hand to roughly cup her breast through her shirt. Rukia was about to try and kick him when he nibbled her collarbone while simultaneously pinching her nipple; instead of getting any retaliatory action in against him, she arched into his body. He laughed again, and caught her lips in a forceful kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth. Regaining a little of her sense, she bit down on it, but this seemed to only excite the Hollow further. She could feel his erection against her belly, and it did nothing to dispel the mist of arousal that was slowly eradicating every rational thought in her mind. The Hollow pulled his mouth away just long enough to spit a mouthful of blood onto the floor before his lips were back against hers, their teeth clacking together. His tongue was swiping against hers, thrusting, and she involuntarily groaned into his mouth. His fingers were still circling her nipple and his mouth was plundering hers in a way that made her impossible to think of a plan to make him stop. She stopped trying to resist and began kissing him back, trying to gain the upper hand._

_He let his mouth travel away from her mouth, following the curve of her jaw up to her ear. He nibbled on the lobe and then slowly swiped his tongue along the shell. "I am going to _fuck _you," he whispered, his moist breath ghosting against her sensitive skin. "I am going to make you come so hard, you won't be able to think of anyone but me ever again." He slid his hand under her shirt so he could touch her skin to skin. "After this, my little human counterpart will never be able to satisfy you."_

_The mention of Ichigo snapped Rukia out of her lust-filled haze. "No," she gasped. "No, stop."_

_"I don't think so," the Hollow said harshly, twisting her left nipple with his fingers. Suddenly, his hand grabbed a handful of her shirt and pulled. The shirt ripped with a loud noise; somehow, he had managed to expose her entire upper body with a single tug. He smirked at his handiwork and then let pulled her leg around his body so his erection had settled between her legs. He began to rock against her with short, powerful half-thrusts, and Rukia had to bite her lip in order not to moan. _

_"I can't do everything I want to if I have to hold you down," the Hollow said lazily. "Are you going to be a good little bitch and behave if I let you go?" His hips stilled and Rukia's body screamed in protest at the lack of movement._

_"Yes," she gasped. He let go, and even though she had planned to try and work her fingernails under his mask and pull, her hands moved on their own accord, sliding down his back. He let her go for a second so he could pull his arms out of the sleeves of his clothing, keeping her pinned with his hips. When his Shinigami robes were half-off, leaving his chest bare, he settled on top of her, his toned pectorals pressing against her skin. He began to slowly thrust against her again, and she was half-ready to demand that he take off the rest of her clothing so he could do things properly. He attacked her mouth, sucking on her tongue, his fingers skillfully circling her nipple._

_"Please," she pleaded when he grudgingly let her up for air. _

_"I told you you'd warm to me," he said, giggling slightly manically. It was a sign of how far Rukia was gone that the sound didn't cause her to come back to rational thought. His lips began to work their way down her neck, alternating between sucking and nibbling. Rukia's breath was coming in little gasps, and when he took her right nipple into his mouth, twisting his rough tongue around her sensitized skin, she let out a little scream and arched her back. His mouth didn't stay at her breast for long; after a few seconds, he began nibbling his way down her ribcage, his fingers lingering and the waistband of her skirt. Wrapping his fingers around a fistful of fabric, he yanked until the skirt had ripped from her hips. Her underwear followed._

_"Well, look at what we have here," he drawled, pressing his finger into her. "My bitch is practically _begging_ for it."_

_"No," Rukia gasped, as his mouth followed the same course as his fingers. Thrusting his fingers inside of her, he lapped at her clit until she was quivering beneath him, a tight coil of pleasure building in her stomach. She was about to fall over the edge when he pulled away, wagging his finger at her._

_"Ah, ah, ah, did I say you could come?" He pulled the rest of his clothing off and threw it into a heap over his shoulder._

_"Bastard," she panted._

_He grasped her ankles and positioned them over his shoulders, grunting in anticipation as he positioned himself. "I'll have you know I like it _rough_," he said, pushing inside of her. With the first thrust, he bit her on the collarbone and she shrieked from the pleasure-pain of it. He was as good as his word—there was nothing gentle about the way he moved in and out of her…and Rukia liked it._

_The Hollow captured her mouth, biting at her lip until he drew blood, his thrusts becoming more erratic. With each push, the Hollow's cock moved against her clit, and the twisting pleasure in her belly grew._

_"Come for me, whore," he gasped, propelling his hips into her faster and faster. "Now."_

_She shrieked wordlessly as his words drove her into an orgasm. As she arched into him, her inner walls clenching around his cock, he bellowed his release. When she opened her eyes, he was gone, leaving her naked on the floor. She had a moment of disorientation when a twisting pain radiating from her lower body caught her by surprise. The lights suddenly flooded the room, and she pushed herself into a half-sitting position, all the while the pain growing more intense._

_Between her legs there was nothing but blood, and when she put her hand to her stomach, she found it swollen, heavy, _pregnant.

Rukia woke, gasping, trying to get into a seated position. She pressed her hands to the swell of her belly, trying to ascertain what was dream and what was reality. The baby kicked, and she sighed in relief.

All the while, a hulking Hollow stared into her prison, grinning vacantly at her.

* * *

Gin approached the edge of the containment he'd placed around Rukia, looking at her body, tense in the throes of another nightmare. He hadn't known what to expect, really, when he'd placed her in captivity. Having never studied the effects of the Hollows on gigai, he'd been pleasantly surprised to see how adversely Rukia was reacting to Hueco Mundo. She'd begun to eat less and less as the soporific effects of the Hollows caused her to have increasingly disturbing nightmares.

"I think it's time," he said to a small Hollow that was perched on his shoulder, a travesty of a pet parrot. He watched disinterestedly as Rukia's spine arched, her face ashen. Causing a door to open in the wall that separated her from him, he stepped inside to watch her dream.

_"You're alive?" Ichigo looked, if anything, disappointed to see her. _

_"Yes—aren't you listening?" Rukia said desperately. "Gin has a gigai."_

_"Well, there's not much damage he can do, now is there? You're worrying over nothing."_

_"Ichigo," Rukia half-screamed. "This is _Ichimaru Gin_ we're talking about. He's probably already left a trail of bodies behind him. We need to help find him and—"_

_"Icihgo?" came a sleep-softened voice from the bedroom. "What's going on?" Orihime stepped out into the living area, rubbing her eye, wearing little more than one of Ichigo's shirts. Rukia felt as though she'd just been punched in the solar plexus._

_Ichigo looked at her bashfully. "I thought you were dead," he said defensively. "Yeah, it kind of sucked at first but then I realized that I've been in love with Orihime since we were in high school."_

_"We're having a baby!" Orihime squealed. _

_"But—" Rukia started, stumbling over her words. _

_"It's not like you can blame me," Ichigo said. "I mean, that baby's not exactly mine, is it?" For the first time, Rukia noticed that she was cradling a bundle in her arms. It forced a little black arm out of the blankets, waving it listlessly. Rukia peeled the blankets from its face and nearly dropped it when a small, masked face smiled coldly back up at her._

Rukia's eyes snapped open, her body bathed in a sticky, cold sweat. Gin's face was only a few centimeters from hers, and she let out a strangled noise of surprise, whapping him in the temple with her wrist. He grabbed it.

"Ah, ah, Rukia. Is that any way to treat me?" he chided. "I mean, I have been feeding you, haven't I? You're still alive."

"What do you want?" she snapped, her voice hoarse from misuse. "This not enough for you? Keeping me trapped here? Making me have nightmares?"

"I think," Gin said lightly, "that it is time for you to help me. You will do it, won't you? Without complaint? You really ought to, you know. You're about ready to burst, and I know nothing about birthing babies." He caressed her stomach, causing her to swat his arm away.

"You'll let me go," she said. "I help you, and you'll let me go, and you won't hurt my baby."

"But of course," Gin replied smoothly. "That was our deal."

* * *

It was extremely odd to be back in the human world after nearly three months spent in captivity. Rukia's legs were weak underneath her even though her muscles had not atrophied nearly as much as she would've expected, given how much time she'd spent sleeping. She pushed the door to Urahara's shop open, mentally cursing when it didn't make a noise. She kept hoping that someone would discover her trying to filch a gigai from the storeroom; it would make capturing Gin extremely easy. But, no, Gin had chosen wisely—being that it was two in the morning, no one was awake. She began to move things around, looking for a long, thin box that would signify a gigai.

It didn't take long. She fished around in the dark for a crowbar, causing something to fall. Gin grabbed her from behind, curling his long fingers over her mouth so she couldn't scream.

"I'd be a little more careful if I were you," he said.

She bit him while simultaneously trying to elbow him. He dodged, letting her go, his silver hair glinting eerily in the dark. "What do you even want with a gigai, anyway?"

Gin made a noise. "I'm sick of hiding out in Hueco Mundo," he said. "There's so much more trouble to be caused here."

It took a minute or two to pry the lid off the box, revealing a lifeless model body. "Here you go," she hissed. As she bent over the gigai, a sudden idea came into her head. She fished into the pocket of her dress, looking for something she wasn't sure she still had. Closing her hand around the cool, smooth exterior of her phone, she allowed herself an internal smile before she fished it out, pressing it into the pocket of the nondescript jeans the gigai was wearing under the pretense of examining the gigai more closely.

"You're not trying to trick me, are you, Rukia-chan?"

"Either you can believe me or you can wait for Urahara to wake up and ask him yourself," she hissed.

Gin tsked. "A little less rude, please, Rukia-chan. I would hate to have to go kill that pretty little husband of yours."

"This is it," she snarled. "I've gotten you what you wanted."

Without another word, Gin swept one of his feet into the box. His spirit form was absorbed into the gigai with little drama. He stood up, examining his hands with detached interest. The gigai's features had morphed to mimic Gin's, and he looked extremely out of places wearing something other than Shinigami robes.

"Outside," he said shortly. He grabbed her wrist, pulling her behind him and making annoyed noises when she couldn't manage anything faster than a quick waddle. When they were far enough away from the shop, hidden in a little alley, he let her go and turned to her.

"They won't be able to track you," she said. "As long as you don't run into anyone who recognizes your face, you'll be virtually untraceable."

"Good," he murmured.

"Then that's it," she said. "I've gotten you a gigai. Now it's time for you to uphold your end." A leaden stone had settled in her stomach as she looked at him.

"Of course you didn't think that I'd just let you go, knowing what you know."

She'd known, of course, that Gin wasn't able to be trusted, but the off-chance that he would let her go, let her baby survive, had been enough to convince her to help him. He opened a small portal to Hueco Mundo, making a croaking noise, and for one moment, Rukia was wildly afraid that he was going to send her back up to starve to death in the midst of Hollow hell. But something was coming down, slowly, floating on a cushion of pale purple light.

"Do you know anything of southern America ghost stories?" Gin asked lightly, cradling the undersized Hollow like a monkey.

"What?" Rukia said confusedly.

"Americans tell stories of ghosts called boo-hags," Gin continued slowly. "According to their legend, these ghosts attach themselves to a victim and slowly suffocate them to death while they're sleeping by sucking their breath from their bodies." He stroked the side of the Hollow's face, and then held it out towards Rukia. It sprung from his arms, landing squarely on her chest, causing her to fall over.

"This is what I'd call a boo-hag," Gin said. "It will kill you in under five minutes. And it happens to be unique in the fact that it will devour your body after sucking your spirit out."

"No," she gasped.

"I hope it isn't too painful, Rukia-chan," he said before turning to the Hollow. "Well? What are you waiting for? Stop staring and eat her already." He turned on his heel and began to run.

* * *

END CHAPTER

A/N: Thanks to all of the reviewers! I appreciate your feedback. The last chapter of this fic should be posted within a week and a half.


	4. Chapter 4

Absence: Chapter Four

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own any Bleach here.

* * *

No matter how hard Rukia tried, she couldn't get more than a shallow breath into her lungs. Her chest burned with the lack of oxygen, and a slow, steady fear leeched into her stomach. She had wanted to save her baby from him, and in the end, she couldn't even do that. The Hollow's mouth was nearly touching hers and she knew that she didn't have enough air to scream. The Hollow was making her arms and legs feel like lead, and black spots were blinking before her eyes.

Suddenly, with a snarled hiss, the Hollow was gone from her chest. She gulped in air, greedily, the Hollow hidden in the shadows of the alley.

"—and stay there!" a woman said before erupting from the darkness, her purple hair blending in with the wall.

"I knew you were still alive," Yoruichi said, smiling. "Where have you been? And what was that thing I just killed?"

"How'd…you…find…me?" Rukia gasped.

"I heard something at the shop. Followed your scent." She shrugged. "What is going on? Who was with you?"

"Ichimaru…Gin," Rukia responded, still short of breath. She was suddenly aware that she was sitting in something wet. A sharp pain ripped through her stomach. "Oh!" she said, startled. "Ow!"

"Rukia?" Yoruichi sounded concerned.

"Yoruichi-san," Rukia said, strangely calm. "I think you need to get me to the hospital."

"Where are you hurt?" Yoruichi asked, at her side in a second.

"I think my baby's coming. Ow!"

* * *

Ichigo was on his way to the site of a Hollow, dragging his feet. Why did Hollows always appear in the middle of the night? His phone was ringing a constant reminder that he needed to be across town in time to vanquish the Hollow before anything happened, but right now he could care less. Taking a shortcut through the park, he was thinking about how much he wanted to be back in his bed when he heard it.

Rukia had chosen probably the most annoying ringtone for Hollow alerts. Ichigo had used to gripe about it nonstop. It was a series of high pitched notes that formed something that sounded like a cat being tortured—Rukia claimed to like it. It gave Ichigo a headache. He hadn't heard it since she'd vanished.

Now, he did. The steady ring was coming in the same intervals as his was, alerting the carrier to the threat of a Hollow. He tried to locate the source of the noise, and it didn't take long for him to spot a figure, running on the sidewalk just outside of the park. Ichigo forgot about the Hollow, letting his phone fall to the ground. He charged after the figure, using his flash-stepping technique to gain ground. He phased five feet in front of the figure, intent on asking him where he'd found Rukia's phone, but the words caught in his throat as he saw who he'd cornered.

"Kurosaki," Gin snarled. "I should've known my luck would've run out."

"Gin," Ichigo said in disbelief.

Gin struggled out of his gigai, his spirit form unfurling like smoke. "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to kill anyone tonight," he said. "Tough luck, eh, ginger?"

Ichigo drew his zanpaktou. "What are you doing here," he said, leveling the sword at Gin. "Where did you get a gigai? And _what are you doing with Rukia's phone_?"

Gin laughed at him, drawing his own sword with a fancy flourish. "Missed your little wife, have you? Maybe you ought've taken better care of her, hmm?"

"What did you do to her," Ichigo snarled.

"She wasn't too hard to kill," Gin said off-hand. "I sliced your spawn out of her with one stroke."

Ichigo could feel his spirit energy crackling out of his body, out of control, but he couldn't care. "_Ban. Kai_," he growled.

"You never told me she was such a spitfire in bed," Gin laughed, dancing back a few steps. "We did have a bit of fun before I slit her navel to nostril. _Shoot to kill, Shinso_!" Gin came at him in a flurry of speed and thrusting; Ichigo barely had time to raise Zangetsu to dodge the blows. Gin was coming at him with what seemed to be twenty swords, moving so quickly, that Ichigo was having trouble keeping up, even with his enhanced speed.

Gin's sword swung into the flesh of Ichigo's shoulder. He ripped it out with a shout of laughter. "Not so tough, are you?" Gin said, smiling. "I thought you would've become a better fighter."

Ichigo snarled wordlessly and came on the offensive, swinging Zangetsu with enough force to cause his entire arm to vibrate with each clash of the swords. He didn't notice the pain in his shoulder as he attacked, but even as hard as he was trying, Gin blocked each swing with ease. "You're going to have to be better than that," he sing-songed.

_He killed her! _Ichigo's Hollow was howling in his head. _He killed our bitch! Let me out, damn you. I'm going to kill him. Let me _out.

Gin ducked under Ichigo's swing, his sword ripping a shallow gash in Ichigo's stomach. "Too easy," he chuckled.

_I'm the only one crazy enough to deal with him, _the Hollow was shrieking. _Let me fight_!

Gin's last parry caused Ichigo to fly back several feet. Shaking with rage, he felt himself acquiesce to the Hollow, letting it take over. The half-mask grew over his face, and he felt himself sink into the recesses of his mind as the Hollow took control.

"I'm gonna _fuck you up_," the Hollow said, charging at Gin. Gin's grin slipped off his face as he raised his zanpaktou. Ichigo's Hollow had been right about one thing—he was just crazy enough to match Gin. Ichigo dimly realized that his Hollow was gaining the upper hand. Zangetsu glanced off of Shinso, and dug deeply into Gin's upper thigh. Gin made a noise like a battle shriek, his eyes opening wide, red pupils glinting wildly. He came at Ichigo faster than before, thrusting Shinso almost too quickly, but Ichigo's Hollow was prepared and ducked under the sword, pushing Zangetsu through the soft flesh of Gin's abdomen, ripping it out savagely.

Blood was trickling from Gin's mouth, and he wiped it with the back of his hand. Ichigo's Hollow allowed Gin no time to compose himself; he charged with an insane laugh. Gin raised Shinso, but must have not had a tight grip, because the Hollow used Zangetsu to whip it away. It fell to the ground with a metallic thunk, twenty meters from them. Ichigo took this as his cue to rip off his mask.

"Going to kill me, Ichigo?" Gin asked, smirking for some reason.

"No," Ichigo said shortly, bringing up the hilt of Zangetsu so he could knock Gin unconscious. "I'm going to take you back to the Soul Society and let Byakuya deal with you." Ichigo wanted nothing more than to rip Gin's intestines out in the most painful way possible, but something kept him from it. Instead, he brought Zangetsu down hard on the crown of Gin's head, catching the errant Shinigami as he slumped. Moving slowly due to his wounds, Ichigo started the trek to Urahara's shop.

His thoughts a swirl of pain and anger, the trip to Urahara's felt shorter than it was. Ichigo was fully ready to have to wake up the shopkeeper, so he was fairly surprised when he entered the courtyard in front of Urahara's shop and found it well-lit. He rapped on the wood of the door, shifting the dead weight that was Gin. He could see Urahara's silhouette approach, and he stepped backwards. The door slid open, and Urahara stepped onto the step.

"Kurosaki-san," he said. He was about to say something else, but Ichigo cut him off.

"I found Gin," he said.

Urahara's eyes widened. "It looks like you did more than find him. Come inside."

Ichigo stepped over the threshold, dropping Gin on the floor. "He had a gigai," Ichigo explained. "I saw him trying to run away. He had…" The words stuck in Ichigo's throat. "He had Rukia's phone."

"Well, I certainly didn't expect Gin to be captured so quickly." Urahara said.

"Wait," Ichigo said confusedly. "You knew that Gin was around?"

"Yoruichi called me an hour ago," he said, "and I've been trying to get a hold of you ever since."

"So I could find him?" Ichigo asked dully.

"No," Urahara said. "Yoruichi found Rukia. She's alive."

Ichigo felt his stomach drop to his toes. "Where?" he asked.

"Karakura General," Urahara said, and Ichigo was instantly out of the door.

* * *

Ichigo sailed through the doors of the emergency room, looking around wildly for a sign of Rukia's whereabouts. Still in his Shinigami form, he was attracting no attention from the doctors or nurses.

"Over here," someone hissed, and he turned to see Yoruichi seated uncomfortably on a waiting room chair. He trotted over, and his worry must've been apparent on his face, because Yoruichi overrode his next statement. "Where have you _been_? They had to take her into an operating room for a C-something or other."

"I ran into Gin," Ichigo said. "Is she okay?"

"Wait—you ran into Gin?"

"_Is she okay?_"

Yoruichi held out her hands in a placatory gesture. "She's a little malnourished, the doctor said. They were worried that she wouldn't be able to deliver naturally because her hips are so narrow."

"I'm going to find her," he said, but she grabbed his wrist.

"Oh, just sit down," she hissed. "Don't go creating trouble. Tell me what happened with Gin."

It was a tense half-hour before the doctor came out, addressing Yoruichi. "She's fine," he said. "The procedure went perfectly, and we've hooked her up to an IV to replenish her body with nutrients."

"What room?" Yoruichi asked.

"Three-thirteen," the doctor said, "but do you mind telling me how she became so malnourished? If I have to involve the police—" Ichigo was already halfway down the hallway, angling towards the elevator, by the time the doctor trapped Yoruichi into an explanation.

Ichigo navigated his way through the nearly-empty hospital hallways, reading off room numbers as he went along.

"Three oh three," he muttered. "Three oh nine. Three thirteen." He paused outside of the door, nervous because Rukia was _alive_. She was _alive,_ not a Hollow, and he was about to see her for the first time in months. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, his heart thrumming in his throat.

The first thought that ran through her mind was that she was tinier than usual, swallowed up by the white of the hospital sheets. She was asleep, her face pale, dark smudges underneath her eyes. He approached the bed, slowly, pausing only to grab a chair that was sitting in the corner of the room. Pulling the chair as close to her as possible, he sat down, his eyes never leaving her face.

Her hair was longer than he'd ever seen it, spilling over her shoulders, lank and lifeless. Extending his hand, he gently allowed his fingers to encircle her wrist—had her arm always been this thin? She made a little noise in her sleep, and that was the same; he couldn't count the number of times she'd made that sleepy little groan and rolled over into his shoulder during the night. Greedily, his eyes roved over her, cataloguing all of the quirks, making sure that this Rukia was _his_ Rukia.

He didn't know how long he'd been sitting there when Yoruichi came in, closely followed by Urahara and his body, which was currently occupied by Kon.

"Man, you two make one odd couple," Kon commented. "You both look like famine victims."

"Shut up," Yoruichi hissed. "And you can get out of his body now." She fished around for the mod soul, pulling it out and shoving it back into the stuffed lion.

"We just came to get you your body," Urahara said. "I need to go back and make sure that Gin hasn't managed to escape from the guard that the Soul Society sent over to retrieve him."

"The doctor thinks that Rukia's been missing," Yoruichi said. "I hope they don't check to see if we filed a police report." True to their word, Urahara, Yoruichi, and Kon stayed long enough to see that Rukia was okay. Ichigo barely noticed them leave, settling into his body and sitting back in the chair. However, Ichigo wasn't alone for long. Barely twenty minutes after the three had left, a nurse came in to check Rukia's vitals.

"Oh!" she said, as soon as she spotted Ichigo. "I didn't know that anyone else was in here! Is she your wife?"

"Yes," Ichigo said, the word choking in his mouth. Just ten hours earlier, he didn't think he would ever have a wife again.

"I suspect you want to meet your daughter," she said with a wink. "I'll go get her."

"Wait—" Ichigo stammered. "A daughter?" In all the excitement of discovering that Rukia was still alive, he'd almost forgotten that she was in the hospital because she'd had a baby. Their baby.

The nurse beamed. "Yes," she said. "I took her down to the nursery myself, not two hours ago. She has your hair." She wrote something down on the clipboard at the base of Rukia's bed before leaving. She wasn't gone for long, and Ichigo heard her rolling something down the hallway before he saw her. She pushed a bassinet into their room.

"Here she is," she said. "Do you know how to hold her? Here, I'll help." She arranged Ichigo's arms, picked the baby up, and tenderly gave her to Ichigo.

"Babies are usually born with blue eyes," she said. "It's unusual that hers aren't." She waited for a reaction, but Ichigo was too absorbed in the tiny bundle in his arms to pay any more attention to the woman. She smiled softly and left the room again; Ichigo didn't notice.

Even though it was late, the baby was awake. Her indigo eyes (_Rukia's_, Ichigo thought) stared into his face with a slightly unfocused gaze. She waved her arm around, as if she was trying to say hello.

Back before Rukia had disappeared, Ichigo had wondered what it would be like to look at his daughter. When she had been an abstract idea, a bump in Rukia's stomach, he'd think about what she'd look like, who'd she take after. Nothing could've prepared him for the rush of emotion that he was feeling, looking at his daughter for the first time.

"Hello," he said softly, stroking her cheek with one finger. Her lips puckered into a pout, but she didn't start to cry. She was red, and wrinkled, and _perfect_, and Ichigo got as lost in her face as he had in Rukia's.

He held her, even as she fell asleep, pulling her impossibly small body to his chest. Eventually, the nurse came in to take her back to the nursery, and only then did Ichigo realize how tired he was. Eyelids heavy, he contemplated padding his head on the edge of Rukia's bed and falling asleep in the chair. The nurse, busybody that she was, grasped his shoulder.

"She looks cold," she said, gesturing towards Rukia. "As long as you're careful, I don't see any harm in you sharing the bed with her." Ichigo stared at her back as she left, and after a minute or two of thought, he carefully got on top of the bed, staying on top of the sheets. Pillowing her head on his shoulder, he stayed awake long enough to hear her make a sleepy noise of content before the events of the day caught up with him and he fell asleep.

* * *

Before she opened her eyes, Rukia noted two things. First, she was very warm, and second, her pillow was moving. Groaning discontentedly, she threw an arm over her eyes as someone rearranged her onto a less squirmy pillow. Vaguely, she heard something move next to her, but she wasn't yet ready to open her eyes. Lying there in a half-awake state, she tried to use her other senses to figure out where she was. When that didn't work (just _why_ was she so drowsy anyway?), she moved her arm and opened her eyes, immediately shutting them against the over-bright light. A hospital? Squinting, she tried to sit up, but was distracted by a sharp pain in her stomach.

"You're going to pull your stitches. Just—hold on." Someone—Ichigo?—was supporting her back, and when he let go, the bed had been adjusted so she was able to sit up. Opening her eyes fully, she looked over her surroundings, trying to remember what had happened the night before. It all came back in a rush, and she turned to look at whoever was sitting next to her bed. Her first instinct had been right; it was Ichigo, and he was looking at her stonily.

"The baby?" she asked, desperate for news.

"She's fine," he said emotionlessly. "I've seen her."

"Gin?"

"In custody."

"Oh," she sighed. "Good." In the rare times when she'd been awake in Hueco Mundo (had she really been there for three months?) she had thought about what she would say to Ichigo if she ever saw him again. What came out of her mouth didn't match anything she'd thought she'd say.

"You look terrible. Did you forget how to eat after I disappeared?"

Ichigo looked at her hardly for a long moment before his mouth upturned in a small smile. "You should talk," he said. "I didn't think it could happen, but you're tinier than you used to be."

Rukia's mouth curved into a smile as well. "Can I see her? The baby?"

"I'll go get the nurse."Ichigo stood, and turned to the door but didn't move. Suddenly he whipped around, his hands on either side of her face in a second, boxing her in.

"Don't you ever do that to me again," he said. "Don't you _dare_. When I thought you were dead…" She could read the emotions in his eyes—the hurt, the relief, the anger, the love. Instead of saying the first thing that came into her mind about him and his tendency to underestimate her, she curled an arm around his neck and brought his lips down to hers. He kissed her desperately, as though he was making sure that she still existed. When he pulled back, she was surprised to note that there were tears running down her face.

"I'm sorry," she mouthed, and he turned to get the nurse.

* * *

Later, as she cradled their daughter and he cradled her, Ichigo voiced something that she'd been thinking about. "She needs a name," he said.

"Yumeko," she replied.

"Dream child?" he asked.

"When I was in Hueco Mundo," she said, "she was the only thing that kept me sane, through all those twisted nightmares. Whenever I'd dream of her, things would seem a little brighter."

He laughed. "At least you don't want to name her Usagi."

"That's for the next one," she said, giggling as Ichigo's eyes went wide.

END OF STORY

A/N: Thank you to all that read and reviewed! On a slightly different note, I want to acknowledge some concrit I received about Gin's less-than-stellar plot. I knew from the beginning that it was the weakest part of this story, and I tried to work it into something plausible. My reasoning is that Gin's never used a gigai, and doesn't know where to find them, and he needed Rukia's help. I didn't want to commit to a grander plot with him, because I've not yet watched the Hueco Mundo arc, and I didn't want to turn this fully AU (I know--I'm a horrible Bleach fan ;;). Anyways, that's why I had Gin do what he did.

Reviews and concrit are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!


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